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The shortage of semiconductors for auto applications continues to impact vehicle manufacturing in China but the problem is likely to ease this quarter compared with Q3, officials from the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) maintained at a press conference in Beijing held on October 19.
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In August, Japan’s finished carbon steel sales both at home and abroad rose by 7.3% on year to about 4.93 million tonnes, and the volume for January-August added up to 40.58 million tonnes, or up 12.2% on year, according to the release by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on October 18, illustrating better demand in and out of the country, a JISF official commented.
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China’s shipbuilding and steel industries have been promoting cooperation recently in order to better defend themselves against surging steel prices and unstable steel supply, according to a report on China’s state media CCTV on October 13.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, has filed lawsuits against Japan’s largest automaker - Toyota Motor, and Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) - the listed arm of the world’s and China’s top steel mill China Baowu Steel Group, alleging their infringements of Nippon Steel’s patent relating to non-grain oriented (NGO) electrical steel sheets, according the Japanese steel mills’ release on October 14.
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Chinese shipbuilders received 54.2 million deadweight tons (dwt) of new vessel orders over January-September, higher by a massive 223.3% on year, according to a new release from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) on October 15.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, announced on October 14 to keep its H-beam list price for spot domestic sales unchanged so that the market has one month to digest the previous months’ price hikes, though it highlighted the possibility of price increment for November.
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Japan’s domestic rebar price, despite having been hovering at its 13-year high, may still have room for further rises as producers may raise their list prices with the surge in scrap price recently, and domestic distributors have also appeared more aggressively pushing through previous price hikes by producers, sources shared on Thursday.
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Japan’s core machinery orders from domestic users other than shipbuilders and power equipment makers declined by 2.4% on month in value to Yen 839.3 billion ($7.4 billion), according to a release by the Japanese government’s Cabinet Office on October 13.
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In September, China’s excavators sales at home and abroad declined on year for the fifth straight month and at a faster pace of 22.9% to 20,085 units, though it was up on month for the second month by 11.1%, according to the data released by the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) on October 12, mainly due to the waning demand domestically and high base of last year, according to market sources.
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In September, Japan’s new ship orders from domestic customers and for export slipped by 0.4% on year to 935,550 gross ton (GT) in 22 vessels, according to new data released by the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association (JSEA) on October 12. Though this was the first decline after eight consecutive monthly on-year rises, a JSEA official said that vessel orders are improving, and that last month’s dip was just a pause.
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Japanese demand for carbon and special steel in ‘crude’ steel equivalent for both domestic sales and export will rise 0.8% on quarter during the present October-December period to 24.11 million tonnes, according to the latest forecast released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on October 8.
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Sales of heavy-duty trucks in China last month plunged by some 60% on year to around 60,000 units, according to a preliminary estimate released by Beijing-headquartered Commercial Vehicle World (CVWorld) on September 30. If CVWorld’s estimate proves correct, monthly sales will have fallen on year for five consecutive months, Mysteel Global notes.
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By the end of August, carbon steel flats stocks at Japan’s steel producers, coil centers and distributors approximated 4.1 million tonnes, up 5.4% on or above 4 million tonnes for the first time since June 2020, according to data shared by Nippon Steel on October 8, but it has not been able to ease the supply tightness much, according to market sources.
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Japan’s carbon steel finished products exports in August rose by 8.9% on year to about 1.91 million tonnes, or up on year for the fourth month, according to the data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on September 30, though the monthly volume had been overall steady at around 1.9 million tonnes since June, a JISF official noted
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In September, China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for steel industry recovered from a three-month decline, up by 3.2 basis points on month to 45, though still in the contraction zone since June 2020, as domestic steel production fell but demand recovered, and steel prices increased, the official index compiler - CFLP Steel Logistics Professional Committee (CSLPC) - shared in the release on September 30.
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The on-year growth in Chinese automakers’ total profits already slumped to a single digit by the end of August, up 5.5% on year for the first eight months against the 19.7% on-year increase over January-July, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) pointed out in a post on September 28.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, will not produce crude steel at Kure area of Setouchi Works in western Japan anymore with the second and the also the last blast furnace shut down on September 29 as planned as part of the corporate restructuring, a company official confirmed on Wednesday.
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Osaka Steel, Japan’s largest steel sections producer and a subsidiary of Nippon Steel, has decided to pause from monthly price rises for its products in October for domestic sales so as to give the spot market one month to digest the previous price rises, a company official shared on September 29.
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In August, Japan’s crude steel output including carbon and special steel rose by 22.9% on year to about 7.92 million tonnes, or the sixth consecutive month with an on-year rise, though it was down 1% on month, according to the latest data from Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF), which was partially to do with low base in 2020, according to market sources.
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Kyoei Steel, Japan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to lift its rebar base price by Yen 3,000/tonne ($27/t) on month to Yen 93,000/t for all its four plants across Japan for October domestic sales, mainly to transfer higher input costs, the company announced on September 22.
